I want people to see this site and come to it when they're considering joining a Christian healthcare sharing ministry. I want everyone to see how huge a blessing Medi-Share has been to us and so many families like us -- thousands of dollars in yearly savings, exceptional support, and true compassion.

One thing I do as part of this mission is try to understand any possible concerns or problems people have when it comes to Medi-Share. Potential new members will often search to learn about any complaints, which is the smart thing to do -- before trusting your family's health, you need to do your due diligence!

First, let's begin with the Better Business Bureau.

Medi-Share's BBB Status

Medi-Share has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. After 26 years of consistently getting its members' medical bills paid, with hundreds of thousands of current members, there are only 12 complaints currently on file with the BB. For comparison, Esurance has over 300 complaints in the past three years alone with an A- rating, and Aetna has almost 600 complaints.

So when it comes to the BBB, Medi-Share has the highest possible rating and extremely few complaints relative to the number of members they have. ​

Medi-Share Health Insurance Complaints

On Google, it appears that some people are searching specifically for health insurance complaints. It is important to keep in mind that while Medi-Share acts very similarly to insurance in most ways, there are important differences between health insurance and Medi-Share.

Every member of Medi-Share that I personally know has loved their experience, but with that said, here are the three most common complaints I've seen online along with my responses to them.

Medi-Share Didn't Accept Me

If you look at the Medi-Share BBB complaints, this is the top one -- someone completed the application and wasn't accepted into Medi-Share. (They wanted their $50 application fee refunded as well, which Medi-Share replied promptly saying that they had done.) This is one of the differences between Medi-Share and insurance. Typically the way insurance works is that the questions they ask when you join are just to set the price. They don't care if you smoke, for example, so long as you're willing to pay more.

To become accepted as a Medi-Share member, you must meet certain standards such as living a Christian way of life. You will be asked about this on the application including your denomination and whether you do drugs or have other non-Christian habits. If you do, it's not a matter of price -- they simply won't accept you.

Medi-Share Requires In-Network Treatment from Doctors and Hospitals

While you can actually use any doctor, hospital, lab, or treatment facility you'd like as a Medi-Share member, what's true is that the ones that are in-network will be at by far the lowest cost with the largest negotiated discounts. Keep in mind that Medi-Share's PHCS network of doctors is tremendous. We have always had a very easy time finding in-network doctors or specialists.

So if you want to pay the minimum, just use the easy search feature to find the closest in-network doctors and specialists.

Medi-Share Didn't Pay My Bill

Members of Medi-Share vote on what expenses are eligible for sharing. Some expenses are eligible that normally wouldn't be with traditional insurance. See my family's cranial band story here for an example. Other expenses work the other way. For example, if you get into an accident while you're drunk, it will not be eligible for sharing because drinking and driving goes against a Christian way of life. Prescription drugs and chiropractic care are examples of expenses that can be eligible for sharing but with limitations.

The people who make this complaint about bills not being paid are usually not doing the basic research in advance. Simply Google or look at the guidelines to find if a particular type of expense is eligible for sharing. If you're ever not sure, give Medi-Share a call, and you'll usually be talking with a representative in a few minutes or less.

As Dave Ramsey has pointed out, Medi-Share has the longest and most consistent track record of paying member bills of all the Christian healthcare sharing ministries. So long as it's a normal medical expense eligible for sharing, your bill will absolutely get paid.​As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments, I am always happy to hear from my readers.

First, in some news I'm very proud of, Medi-Share has published a guest blog post I wrote for their site. Please check it out here!

The topic of today's blog post is the Medi-Share app. It's available for both iOS and Android, and since I have an iPhone, I'll be looking today at the iOS version. To get the app, simply do a search for "Medi-Share" in the Apple App store and it will be the top result as a free app.

Once you've downloaded it, begin by putting in your Medi-Share login and you're immediately on the app's homepage. This screen lets you: Make a one-click call to customer service, see who your share has gone to help, get copies of your member cards, or find a provider. At the bottom of the screen, you can also book a Telehealth appointment, see all your recent medical bills, or do a live chat.

Here is what the app's homescreen looks like:

​And here are more details on the different features:

Calling Medi-Share: This is easy to do through the app just by pressing the button that says "Call," but since I sometimes get requests for contact info, I'm also including everything you need to know to contact Medi-Share at the bottom of this blog entry.

See Who Your Share has Helped: Each month you pay your share, it goes to help with the bills of other members. Our monthly share payments have helped dozens of other members. Through the app, we can see their names, messages to us, and write words of support directly to them.

Member Cards: When you join Medi-Share, you get a member card -- just like you would when buying traditional insurance -- that has all of your information needed for providers to send your bills directly to Medi-Share. If you lose your physical membership card, you now have instant access to a replacement through the app.

Find a Provider: Search Medi-Share's vast database of in-network providers. This is an extremely user-friendly search allowing you to save providers you have found also. As an example, here is what it would look like to search for a pediatrician within 10 miles of Winter Park, FL near Orlando. (This 10-mile radius turns out to be overkill; the first 20 results are all for pediatricians within 2 miles of the zip code entered.)

Book a Telehealth Call: Did you know that you have 24/7 access to free online doctor appointments with Medi-Share? This is a significant benefit of membership. As one example, If your one-year-old needs antibiotics, you can get a prescription almost instantly in the middle of the night without having to wait to take your child in or make an expensive doctor's appointment.

See Bills: You can see any bill that has been sent in for you, the negotiated discount, and how close you are to your annual household portion.

Live Chat: Start a live chat instantly with customer service.

By the way, the earlier versions of this app had a couple of stability issues leading some to leave negative reviews. These have all been fixed and the app now works great. If you find the app extremely useful like I do, please give it a 5-star rating in the app store so that more people can discover and use it.​​

Medi-Share Guidelines, Address and Phone Number

Medi-Share Guidelines: Here are the complete Medi-Share guidelines in PDF format. If you click Ctrl-F on your computer, you can search for any term you're looking for more information about.

I recently had the privilege to visit Medi-Share headquarters in Melbourne, FL. I was invited to discuss how Medi-Share had worked for my family, as well as this site and my mission to help show new members the program.

Exiting from I-95, it's only a short drive before you reach Medi-Share.​

The first thing I noticed on entering is that security is taken seriously. There is a security guard at the entrance, plenty of cameras, and a badge required to enter the building. The reason for this is because of their responsibility to keep all member information totally secure. In fact, when I asked to take pictures for this blog, I was told that was great except they had to make sure that the pictures didn't show what was on any of the computer screens being used.

One thing you will notice as a member is that call wait times are very short. Sometimes you don't wait at all when you call in. Hold times longer than 3-4 minutes are rare. I got some great insight as to how Medi-Share accomplishes this with the multi-colored board. Dark green means good call wait times of under a minute. Dark red is their worst possible wait time, which means ... five minutes! Having recently called Ikea and been told to wait 72 minutes, I particularly appreciated these standards.

Another theme I noticed was that while Medi-Share clearly cares deeply about all of their members, they're always very good to everyone who works there -- which is one of the reasons employees are always so motivated to help. For example, the headquarters has a gym and a cafeteria on-site. It also has The Giant Wheel. When employees are frequently singled out for being of exceptional help to members, they get to spin the wheel and win a prize as their reward for top-level customer service.

​

Another reason everyone is so motivated is of course that they share a strong faith. Right inside the building is a beautiful chapel so that all who work there can come together in prayer. My family and I were even invited to come speak about our experiences with our daughter's cranial band during one of their services.

On the day I came, they were doing a Star Wars theme as a fun way to finish a software upgrade they've been working on. Here I am with Medi-Share's Director of Marketing, Michael Gardner (Center), as well as Communications Director and Campus Pastor Wesley Linsey (Left).

And lastly, here are a few fun things I learned:

Medi-Share is planning a major charity initiative for their 25th anniversary, which has now been written about on their blog;

A large part of new member enrollment always takes place near the end of the year;

Medi-Share has become so widely known, people will sometimes refer to Christian healthcare sharing ministries generally as "Medi-Share programs."

Thank you to Medi-Share for inviting me, and if any reader has a question on the program, you are welcome (as always) to post a comment on this blog or message me through email.

When our daughter was born, her head had an elongated shape. This type of cone-headed appearance is apparently very common and usually goes back to normal soon.

At age 3 months, however, our pediatrician said she had plagiocephaly and torticollis. These two difficult-to-pronounce words--indicating issues with head shape and neck movement--weren't what we wanted to hear! But in addition to having faith in God's plan, we were also very glad to hear that these conditions were correctable. We needed to get her a cranial band (sometimes called a cranial helmet, although hers was not a full helmet) that she would wear for a few months.

The cranial band is a specialized type of treatment requiring advanced imaging techniques and has a very limited number of providers. The best one, from our research, was a company called Cranial Technologies. We drove her three hours to the nearest Cranial Tech location in Orlando where an extremely nice woman named Kristina took measurements. Sure enough, the measurements strongly supported the band.

Let's skip ahead for a moment and look at a picture of her sleeping outside while wearing her band:

So all turned out well, but before then something very interesting happened with insurance.

Cranial bands to treat plagiocephaly are a very time-sensitive treatment. After the baby is several months old, time starts working against you as babies' heads become more set and making changes becomes increasingly difficult. If you know you need to use a cranial helmet treatment, you want to start as soon as possible.

We were surprised, then, when Cranial Tech told us the next step was usually a 2-week wait for insurance company approval. In particular, they contact the insurance company and try to convince them that the band is a necessary medical procedure. Most insurance companies ultimately refuse to pay for this specialized treatment, but if you just get the treatment when it's needed without prior authorization from the insurance company, then you have no chance of being reimbursed.

My wife said, "Colin, we drove 3 hours here for a reason. Instead of weeks delay and another trip, let's just call Medi-Share and see what they say."

When I called, a Medi-Share representative was on the line with me in around 90 seconds. She told me that Medi-Share doesn't have any requirement of prior authorization. She believed the expense would be fully eligible for sharing (covered), and although she couldn't give a definite answer without seeing the bill and how it was coded, getting the treatment now we would be just as eligible for reimbursement compared to waiting.

We told Cranial Tech and they scheduled us in right then. We wrote the first of potentially eight $500 checks and got the first treatment (a comprehensive imaging used to custom-design the band) that same morning. Medi-Share received the bill and contacted us to let us know it was fully eligible for sharing. Not only did they pay the rest of what we owed, but they sent us a $500 check to reimburse our first payment!

With conventional insurance, we would have faced a very difficult choice. Do we:

(A) Delay a needed treatment for our daughter by weeks, but potentially have insurance pay for it?

OR

(B) Get the treatment right away, but risk paying $4,000 out of pocket unnecessarily?

With Medi-Share, however, we got her the treatment she needed immediately and had the entire process paid in full for us.

Medi-Share was such a tremendous blessing. Our daughter only ended up needing the band for around 6 weeks, which went by very quickly. Now her plagiocephaly and torticollis are cured. When you're a parent, these situations can be very stressful. Having an insurance alternative that really cares about you and your family is invaluable, more so than even the financial savings.​

What's it like once you join Medi-Share? There are many customer service options for speaking directly with representatives over phone or email. With that said, most of what you'll want to do on a day-to-day basis is done either automatically or through their member's portal.

The easiest way to make your monthly payment, for example, is to have it automatically debited from your bank account. Here's the most recent payment for our family:

​$177 per month is all that we pay for our family of three, and we have it set to be paid each month from our Bank of America account.

When you go to Medi-Share logged in as a member, here are the options you see in the Member Center:​

Find a Provider: Search easily for an in-network doctor or specialist near you as discussed more here.

EFT/Auto Payments: Setting up the automatic payments we talked about earlier in this blog entry.

Forms: For example, if you'd like to change your AHP (deductible) at any time there is an online form for this.

Guidelines: If you're unsure about whether a particular type of medical expense will be eligible for sharing, find out right away in the guidelines section.

ID Cards: You can print out extra copies of your main Medi-Share Christian Health Insurance card or Dental/Vision card.

Medical Bill Status: As soon as Medi-Share receives your medical bill, they will add it to your member portal for you to be able to see what you were charged for, how much of a discount they negotiated, and and any amount that you still have to pay (such as before you've reached your AHP).

Refer a Friend: Medi-Share's referral program. My family and I are part of this program by the way, and if you or any friends/family are considering joining, we would be so grateful if you used our link to learn more information.

Medi-Share runs a charity program to pay for the medical expenses of families in need. It's called Extra Blessings. Our referrals allow us to make a monthly donation to fund this program as well as to continue maintaining this Medi-Share Reviews Site.

Today's topic is the Trump tax plan and the removal of the individual mandate. This change would mean that there would no longer be a requirement to have health insurance or be a member of a healthcare sharing ministry, and those choosing to remain uninsured wouldn't have to pay an Obamacare penalty.

​Overall, we here at Medi-Share Reviews are happy with this change. Insurance should be a decision made by the individual and family. For most, it will make sense to pay a fixed amount each month in exchange for having unexpected medical bills paid or shared. But in a free country, you should have the right to purchase or decline any service. Forcing people to buy something they don't want is not the right solution.

With that said, the individual mandate was how my family and I found Medi-Share. We were going without any insurance when we could no longer afford it. We didn't want to pay the Obamacare penalty though, and that was when we discovered we could pay 60% less as Medi-Share members relative to traditional insurance. At this point, whether the individual mandate stays or goes, we will always stay happy Medi-Share members.

What should follow up the removal of the individual mandate is making healthcare affordable again. Opaque pricing, short hospital visits that costs thousands of dollars, and poor customer service should be made relics of the past. The way to do that is by embracing a free market. Stop artificially limiting the supply of doctors and move to a completely free healthcare market where consumers and healthcare providers interact on a voluntary basis.

Until that happens, individual mandate or not, we will be sticking with Medi-Share and hope that you and your family find the solution that best meets your needs as well.

Reader Geoff R. from San Diego, CA wrote in to me with a question; with his permission, I share it here and offer my reply.I've been looking into Medi Share and see on their site and yours that it's not insurance. I read the explanation but still don't quite get it. If you join, you pay a certain amount every month, and then they pay your medical bills. In what way is this not insurance?​

​Great question.

While it's true that Medi-Share and other Christian healthcare sharing ministries function similarly to traditional insurance, there is a crucial difference. Insurance companies operate a for-profit business where they take in your premiums and guarantee they'll pay for certain healthcare expenses.

Medi-Share is a Christian non-profit that facilitates members paying each others' bills. If they were an insurance company, they would keep your monthly payment, invest it, and aim to pay out a smaller amount for future claims than they took in initially. Instead their role is simply to distribute monthly payments among members that have medical expenses, providing all members with predictability and efficiency for a much lower cost than insurance companies. Members can even vote on what types of medical expenses are shared.

So while both Medi-Share and insurance companies will both get your medical bills paid for you, they accomplish that task in very different ways. Insurance companies do it in a heavily regulated environment, collecting premiums, investing them for profit, and paying out for claims the minimum they're required to. Medi-Share lets members decide what expenses are shared, and then as a non-profit organizes it so that everyone is paying each others' medical bills with as small a monthly payment as possible.

Healthcare has been in the news recently with President Trump continuing to try and make good on his promise to repeal Obamacare. The GOP replacement plan is different, yet fundamentally very similar.

For example, while the details differ, both feature subsidies that depend on income as well as penalties for going without coverage.

I am very sympathetic to those who can't afford good healthcare, having been there myself. Regulating every aspect of the system isn't the right answer though. From the official TrumpCare site, the focus remains on taxes, regulations, and government interference in the market:

What we need instead is a free market in medicine and healthcare, instead of an artificially limited supply of doctors who bill overly-regulated insurance companies. Doctors should be incentivized to care about their patients, and provide transparent and competitive prices. Higher taxes and subsidies will not solve this problem.

In the meanwhile, Medi-Share continues to offer a health insurance alternative with lower cost, greater flexibility, and a wider array of doctors and specialists. It opts you out of penalties and the bureaucratic health insurance labyrinths. Until we have genuine change to the system, that's about as good as we can hope for. ​

"I'm thinking of joining Medi-Share but do you know if they cover counseling / anti-depressive?"

Looking at the Medi-Share guidelines, I'll try to provide the best answer I can to this question. First, psychiatrists are definitely doctors. When you go to search for a provider, one of the options you can select is specifically to locate a psychiatrist near you.

The one limit to this is that while psychiatric care and evaluation are eligible for sharing, there is a maximum of 6 months of sharing per new condition. Most forms of counseling, such as those for learning deficiencies, aren't eligible for sharing. If you have a specific type of counseling, medication, or mental health treatment you are interested in, the best option is to contact Medi-Share directly to ask.

(A benefit to Medi-Share not making all forms of expenses eligible for sharing is that this lowers the monthly cost for all members. Members get to vote on this so you have a say as a Medi-Share member for which expenses should be eligible for sharing.)

Steven, I hope that answers your question, please feel free to get back in touch if you have more information I can help with.